Shin Bet discloses: 'This is how Israelis are recruited for Iran-backed missions'

It was reported on Tuesday that the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office filed an indictment today against Elimelech Stern, a 21-year-old resident of Beit Shemesh, charging him with having contact with a foreign agency.

He was arrested along with two other citizens by detectives of the Unit of International Crime Investigations at Lahav433, on suspicion of carrying out security activities in Israel as directed by Iranian intelligence officials.

The arrest was carried out as part of a joint operation by the Shin Bet and the Unit of International Crime Investigations at Lahav433, which exposed an infrastructure of Iranian intelligence agents that had been operating in recent months under the guise of foreign agents and made contact with Israeli citizens, in order to recruit them and use them to carry out various tasks in Israel.

The investigation found that Stern had been in contact through Telegram with a profile named "ANNA ELENA" and was asked to perform various tasks in Israel.

Stern was asked to hang notices in Tel Aviv, bury money at various locations in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, deliver packages containing a severed animal’s head or a doll’s head next to a knife and a threatening message, with the intention of placing them at the doorsteps of Israeli citizens, burning a forest and more.

The investigation also found that Stern agreed to carry out the missions, excluding murder and setting fire to a forest.

In order to hang the notices, bury the money and deliver the packages, Stern recruited two other Israeli citizens, who performed some of the tasks for monetary pay. In return for performing the tasks, Stern received payment from ANNA ELENA in cryptocurrency.

Today, as mentioned, the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office submitted an indictment against Stern to the Jerusalem District Court, charging him with the offense of holding contact with a foreign agency. The two other citizens whom he recruited were interrogated and released from custody at the end of their investigation, pending a decision on their case.

The method of contacting Israeli citizens through social media, under the pretext of misrepresenting the identity of the person submitting the request, is a well-known mode d'emploi used by Iranian intelligence agencies.

In addition, other widely distributed text messages with a similar cover were found, which include a link leading to Telegram and a reference to the website of the International Security Agency of Iran.”

A significant number of Israeli citizens who received these suspicious inquiries, avoided responding to them and even alerted relevant authorities.

The security agencies in Israel, including the Shin Bet and Israel Police, will continue to work in cooperation to detect Iranian activity in areas of influence and psychological warfare, aiming to harm Israel's national strength and war effort, sow demoralization and widen social divides.

A senior official says that "in this complex period, when digital space is being used for the purposes of intimidation, conveying messages or promoting terrorist activity under the guise of innocent activity, we recommend the public to be vigilant about inquiries from unknown parties, and avoid providing personal details or opening links from unidentified sources."